


Fixer Upper, or: One Year in the Life of...

by blackhighheels



Series: For they know now what they do [5]
Category: RuPaul's Drag Race (US) RPF, RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:21:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27210370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackhighheels/pseuds/blackhighheels
Summary: They are finally buying and renovating their dream house together.
Relationships: Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo
Series: For they know now what they do [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596028
Comments: 22
Kudos: 37





	Fixer Upper, or: One Year in the Life of...

**Author's Note:**

> Because I made you wait so long for the last chapter of the last installment, I decided to post this one shot now. Bits and pieces of it were written a while ago, but I just finished it. I hope you like it, I hope you still like the series and I hope someone is still reading this. If not, it remains mine only ;)

**October**

Jose is rarely speechless, and even less often does he find himself standing with his mouth hanging open, least of all because of something his boyfriend does.

They’ve known each other for nearly six years and have been together for over two, so there really isn’t much Brock can do to surprise him to the extend of leaving him at a loss for words, but this time he’s certainly done it.

„It’s an earring,“ Jose finally manages to find some words, describing stuttering what he sees in the little black box Brock holds in his hands.

„Yes.“ The smile on Brock’s face is wide and proud and Jose wonders for a moment if his man is pulling the fucking best prank on him, as in like ever.

„What the actual fuck?! You bought me an earring as an engagement ring?“ The disbelieve in his voice combined with the narrowed eyes, wrinkled forehead and pursed lips finally tip off Brock that they’ve got a problem here.

„Yes.“ This time it’s more tentative, the smile gone from his face.

„Who the fuck buys and earring as an engagement ring? There’s a reason it’s called a ring finger not a ring ear or ring earlobe or some shit,“ Jose huffs. He was so excited about the prospect of finally putting a real dope engagement ring on his ring finger and now he gets a stupid-ass earring? What kinda fucked up shit is his man pulling again?

„You don’t like it?“

„I like it… but it’s an earring.“ It doesn’t matter that it’s cool and sparkly and will look good on him. He’d love it as a birthday or Christmas present or something, but it’s not the romantic, sparkly engagement ring he’s dreamed of.

„It has diamonds,“ Brock has the nerve to point out and Jose snorts, he can’t help it. „You hate it.“ Brock suddenly looks so disappointed that Jose’s urge to kick his ass lessens a little bit.

„I don’t hate it. Just…“ Jose sighs, „ explain yourself before I’m going ninja on your unromantic ass, toes.“

„I wanted to get a normal engagement ring at first, like, I even had it narrowed down to two I thought you’d like. But then, like, I realized that if we announce officially that we’re engagedby you wearing a ring, then all eyes would be on us again and the whole Branjie shit will reach a new high. And we both don’t want that, right? I know how private your are about us.“

Brock has a point, so Jose nods.

„And it would be a hassle taking the ring off all the time, which you have to do for work anyway, but then you’d also have to do it all the time leaving the house when there are reporters or fans around. Like, where’s the sense in having a ring if you can’t ever wear it? And I wantyou to wear it. So, like, I thought that if I give you an engagement earring, you can wear it all the time and no one would know as long as we don’t want them to and you don’t have to take it off and I don’t want you to take it off and…“

Brock is stopped by Jose’s lips on his, because really, what else can Jose do now that he knows the romantic thoughts behind his man’s ridiculous actions?

„B… twinkle toes… my boo, my man,“ Jose sniffs when he has to break the kiss because of his tears.

„I even had the inscription of our meeting day added,“ Brock goes for the kill with a very proud – and slightly cocky – smile back on his face as he reduces Jose to a sobbing mess, before he gathers him in his arms and chuckles as Jose’s romantic soul cries at the crazy, original romantic shit his fiancé is doing.

„So, I take it, I’m forgiven for not getting you a ring?“ Brock asks when Jose has calmed down a bit.

„Next time you better tell me the idea first,“ Jose wipes the last of his tears away.

„Maybe you should just trust the fact that I know you well a little bit more.“

„You forgettin’ that I know you too, toes, and you more the hoe version of Mr. Darcy than Noah.“

„Darcy gets the girl in the end,“ Brock just shrugs. „You want me to help you put it on?“

„Yes, please,“ Jose nods vigorously, lost in the romance of the moment or, well, what he considers to be incredibly romantic: Brock taking the small diamond stud out and putting the new engagement earring in.

„There. Looks good on you and no one will pick up on our engagement unless we tell them personally.“ Brock coughs a bit, not yet fully over the pneumonia that had landed him in the hospital for nearly three weeks and from which he had been released three weeks ago. „Speaking about telling… want to call your ma now? You haven’t told her yet even though she’s been here every day.“

„If I told my ma, she wanted to see the ring and you messy ho couldn’t find the ring. And, you know, if I told her you lost the engagement ring in the mess you leave everywhere, she would’ve whooped your ass first for losing the ring and the whopped my ass for saying yes to an idiot who loses the engagement ring. Or, ya know, engagement earring.“

„So, we tell her now and then finally call my mother?“ Brock wants clarification.

„Or we could celebrate. Looks to me like you finally got your energy back…“ Jose wraps his arms tightly around Brocks waist and tilts his head back, requesting another kiss.

„Upstairs?“ Brock asks when they pull back.

„Mhmpf,“ Jose shakes his head and pushes Brock onto the sofa in the living room. „Climbing those fucking stairs always hurts my knee. That’s going on the list, by the way: No more stairs to the main bedroom in the new house. I have a fucked up knee and you not getting any younger;“ Jose giggles about getting a dig in at Brock, before he climbs into his lap and shuts him up with his lips and tongue, before he can volley something back at his bratty fiancé.

***

**December**

The living room table is pushed to the side and the cats and Riley reside on the sofa while Brock and Jose are sitting cross legged on the floor, both of their laptops open and several papers and print outs with outlines spread out all over the floor in front of them, their Christmas tree twinkling brightly in the background.

The realtor had offered them several houses and after throwing those out that were either too small, too big, too expensive or too far away in any other way from what they imagined, they still have to decide between seven possible houses.

Brock feels like his head is going to explode any second, because his boyfriend is being his usual unreasonable and crazy self. Jose’s main criteria is the feeling a house gives him, completely disregarding the criteria charts Brock has meticulously made over the course of weeks, summarizing all of their wishes and pet-peeves.

„Don’t gimme that look,“ Jose points a finger to his face.

„Jo…“ Brock drags out the vowel in exasperation, „you’re being ridiculous.“

„ME? Just cause I don’t wanna live in a fucking ugly green house don’t mean I’m ridiculous. It’s legit!“

„You know there’s this miraculous thing called ‚paint‘ that allows you to change the color of a house, right?“

„It looks like the Grinch hole outside Whoville and that Grinch aura will remain no matter what motherfucking color you put on top of it. It’ll shine through and then we’ll be infected by it and then we’ll turn green! Like you already showed in your Elphaba stint and Michelle will kick us off all Drag Race things, just cause we bought an ugly green house.“

„Fine, the green house is out,“ Brock gives in, knowing there is no way he will win this. How do you win arguing with the crazy? „Six left,“ he says and closes the tab on the laptop that had all the info of the green house. „Next?“

„I like this one,“ Jose points to the picture of a spacious but slightly run down house not too far from where they are currently living. It’s a bungalow with a small pool in the garden, a double garage and a patio. Kitchen, living room and dining room are kind of small, but the master bedroom and bathroom are great, there’s a guest room and two small rooms that could be either storage rooms for their drag stuff or officesand there’s another large space in the basement, that they could transform into whatever.

„What do you like about it?“

„It feels like a nice home, not just a house. And it’s not as expensive as the rest, but needs some work. So for the difference we could actually transform it into exactly what we want instead of just winging it for the same price of the others.“

Brock does a double take and stares at his man. „That’s actually a rational argument.“

„Asshole. I can be all grown up and boring, like you.“

„So, what about the others? Or you’ve already made your decision?“

„This one has no pool,“ Jose points to a photograph. „And child, this one is right round the corner from the gay clubs. Once people find out we live there, our front yard and porch would become a dark room with glory holes and I don’t wanna see any ding-a-lings free in the wild when I look out my window at night or have to watch orgies taking place.“

„Would save us some money on porn,“ Brock shrugs with a laugh.

„You the one who’s watching porn as soon as I’m gone. I’m a one man kinda ho, I only watch your dick on the screen,“ Jose tells him with raised eyebrows. „You know, we’d have to place condoms by the mailbox for them hoes and who will clean up the mess, huh? Not you, that for sure.“

„But we’d make some money by charging for the show. Could be a new source of income. Just imagine how often Silky would be over.“

„He’d move in and join the show,“ Jose laughs.

„Ok, not what I wanna see looking out the window.“

„True dat. And we’d get even more noise complaints,“ Jose nods.

„So, this one is out, too.“

„This is too fancy. We not Bianca who can just fill up empty rooms with books. And this one is way too small.“

„Ok, down to two. What’s the problem with this house?“

„No problem. It’s nice,“ Jose shrugs and Brock wonders for a moment if he’s being sarcastic, but he seems genuine.

„But?“

„But…. Nothing,“ Jose starts fidgeting and avoids Brock’s eyes.

„Papi!“ Brock calls him out on it without saying all the words out loud. The nickname is enough. Jose mumbles something. „What did you say?“ Brock pulls him closer by his waist so he’ll hear him this time.

„I said, and I’ll go Kill Bill on your ass if you ever tell her, that it’s too close to my ma’s house. She and my aunt would be over all the time and we barely got rid of them after your hospital stint. Did they really have to hang out by the pool all day even after you’re totally ok again? We couldn’t even fuck in the pool again before it got too cold,“ Jose grumbles.

„So you chose the house you like, because we can fuck in the pool whenever we like?“ Brock tries very hard to keep a straight face, but fails as the giggles just escape him and then turn into full fledged laughter.

„Physical therapist told me exercise in the water is good for ya.“ Jose smirks. „Good for the bones, and the joints and the knees and the dicks and the booty holes…’specially for old guys like you.“

„I doubt he said _that._ And if you add another ‚old‘ joke you’re not getting any today.“

„Ha! As if your horny dick can resist me.“

„My horny dick will be ok with my hand for today. So think about your next words,“ Brock playfully threatens.

Jose leans closer, so close that Brock can feel his breaths on his face. „We found the house. Now call the realtor and then fuck me in celebration. I might even get the chocolate lube if you hurry… let you suck me for a bit.“

„You’re a tease,“ Brock rolls his eyes, but feels Jose’s words going straight to his very interested dick. He has the phone in his hands before Jose has got up and is still talking to the realtor when his crazy man comes back, opens his zipper and gives Brock a show that has him stuttering like a complete idiot, before he finally hangs up.

***

**February**

Jose sinks onto his bed and smiles when both cats and Riley immediately follow him and snuggle up to him. It’s only eight o’clock at night, but he’s had a long day and he’s exhausted. The hours at the gym rehearsing a new choreography has been hard on his knee, which throbs painfully. It’s his first real dancing gig after the surgery and he’s excited to hit the stage again and do what he loves most: Entertain a live audience.

Now, however, he has to entertain someone else, or talk to him at least, because they have something important to discuss.

„Hey, big guy,“ Brock’s smile is wide when he answers the call. He’s in Canada, shooting another tv show and it looks like he’s currently sitting in his hotel room having dinner by himself.

„Hey, little guy,“ Jose greets back and uses the nickname, that’s been somewhat established since Brock’s sickness and his endless yammeringand bitching after he’s already been better. During the worst time of his pneumonia Brock hadn’t complained at all, but once he’d been cleared his hypochondriac tendencies had come back full force. Every little sniffle made him lie down and rest and act like a complete baby – which is where the nickname came from. „What’s for dinner?“

„Poutine and a burger,“ Brock replies, now chewing something.

„Sexy,“ Jose rolls his eyes bothat the lack of his man’s manners and the fact that he is eating poutine again. Like Canada doesn’t have any other food.

„I know,“ Brock smirks and eats another frie drowned in gravy. „Have you already had dinner?“

„Yes, I grabbed something with Dino after the rehearsal.“

„How was is? How’s Dino and the others?“ Brock keeps munching.

„Good but freaking exhausting. Everything hurts even though I took a long bath that was boiling hot. I felt like a lobster being thrown in the water to cook.“ Brock laughs. „And the dancer hos are good.Nick got himself a man.“

„Naomi?“

„I said a man,“ Jose shoots back and Brock starts laughing again.

„Don’t let him hear that or her long legs will be up your butt.“

„And never come out again. I’d be impaled like in these Dracula documentaries you made me watch a while back.“

„Naomi the impaler.“

„I don’t think she’d get the joke if we said that to her face. She’d think we’re talking bout her dick.“

„Ok, can we please change the topic? I’m eating.“

„Since when are you such a prude?“

„Since I know that the longer we’re talking about another guy’s dick, the higher the chances are that you’ll get upset with me at some point.“

„True dat,“ Jose admits with a smile. „And Naomi’s dick is not really why I’m calling.“

„You have a reason for calling? And here I thought you’re just missing me.“ Brock pouts exaggeratedly.

„That’d look cute, if there wasn’t cheese stuck to your nose,“ Jose lets him know.

„Fine… why are you calling?“ Brock is now definitely sulking a bit.

„I’m calling, cause Jasper ambushed me today at the studio.“

„WoW Jasper?“

„The one and only. Some little birdie told him that we bought a house and WoW wants to film with us, you know, like that Fixer Upper stuff Branjie style.“

„That little birdie called Silky?“

„Nope, a little birdie called Derick.“

„How does Derick know that we bought a house?“

„Derick heard me talking to Dino during the first meetings and of course he had to go and snitch like a bitch to everyone.“

„Ah, ok, go on. What exactly do they want?“

„A whole series. Like basically starting now and then following us when we renovate and talk floors and colors and stuff.“

„I’m thinking that’s a big fat ‚no‘ from me. I want no cameras in our home and our private time.“

„That’s what I thunk, too, but then he told me them numbers and child, we could totally re-build and furnish the gym you’re dreaming about with that kinda money money money.“

„Oh wow.“

„Yup.“

„But, Jo… still… I don’t know. Even of it’s just Jasper, as long as he’d be around nothing would be private.“

„So you agree that we’re saying no? I just thought as the bestest fiancé you should know all details , so you can think for yourself and then just agree with me,“ Jose smiles.

„Did they already send you the official offer? Have them send it over and then maybe we can negotiate something with them?“

„Like what?“

„Like… They get a house tour when we’re done and can film the housewarming party, which would kill two birds with one stone, and maybe with the money we could buy the jacuzzi you’re so crazy about and change the wood on the patio?“

„Ooooh, a jacuzzi! But we ain’t killing no tweety birds with no stones, you hear me! Not even for ajacuzzi, or they’ll hunt us down like in the birds movie and it’ll be bad karma with all them birds always sitting on our roof waiting to peck our gay asses.“ Jose insists.

Brock just laughs about Jose’s rant. „I really miss you, papi,“ he says then.

„It’s only been four days.“

„Four long and lonely days in a hotel room all alone.“

„Didn’t you say it’d be good to get used to being apart again more and more after being locked up in one house for months.“

„I don’t think we’re locked up. Just in the same city for once.“

„You’re telling me you didn’t get sick of me?“ Jose keeps teasing.

„Not really. Not more than usual,“ Brock finally is done eating.

„If I’d told you three years ago that you’d be stuck in a house with me for five months you’d have jumped off the next bridge.“

„You do remember that I proposed and you said yes, which kind of implies that we want to be together as often as possible.“ There’s a little bit of hurt now in Brock’s voice.

„Calm down, boo. You know, I miss you, too. Would’t be calling and texting you all the time if I didn’t. Right?“

„Right,“ Brock nods and smiles brightly again.

***

**May**

Brock looks around and tries to take in every little change and detail as they walk into their new house for the first time in three weeks. It’s still a construction site but at least some rooms are recognizable as rooms now, with new walls in placeand the plumbing and scaffolding done. There are still floors, tiles and wallpapers missing, the windows in the back of the house still need to be replaced and there’s a lot of empty space where the new kitchen will go. But progress is visible, if you know how it looked before.

Yet, it’s not as close to finished as they hoped they would find it.

When they step into what will soon be their master bedroom they stop and do a double take. There are benches and tables standing on the concrete floor and the whole scene looks like someone is throwing a pot luck instead of this being a working construction site.

„Whose fucking idea was it to go on a vacation and leave my mother in charge of the construction site and crew?“ Jose asks without taking his eyes from the scene in front of them.

„Yours, papi,“ Brock reminds him softly and can barely be heard over the noise in the room.

„Right,“ Jose says slowly, nodding his head. „Is that rum on the table over there?“

„I doubt the punch in the bowl is any better,“ Brock points to a pink concoction in a large glass bowl.

No one seems to notice them as they eat, drink and chat, Vanjie’s mother right in the center of the madness, being the eye of the storm.

„Ma!“ Jose calls out and makes her turn around.

„Mijo! Brock!“ She hurries over with a large smile and envelops them in a bear hug.

„What the fuck is going on here?“ Jose barks.

„Ah, you know, your grandma and I made lunch for the guys. Can’t let them starve.“

„Lunch? This looks more like you’re throwing a quinceañera in our soon to be bedroom. There’s even Coquito over there. They’re here to work not to drink!“ Jose rants.

„And you’re always keeping that separate?“ She looks at the both of them and Brock knows this will get ugly soon.

„We’re not taking down walls or laying pipes,“ Brock comments, which apparently is the completely wrong thing to say judging by the way she stares him down.

„You’re lying about the laying pipes part,“ Jose whispers in his direction, which earns him a slap by his mother.

„Stop talking dirty things in front of your mother. And now sit down and eat, drink something and tell me about your trip. You look tired.“

„We just got off a nine hour flight from London,“ Brock hopes this comment will distract from the fight that still hangs in the air. Vanjie and mama Vanjie fighting close to hammers, saws and many semi-drunk construction workers might not be the best idea, though.

„I thought you were in Italy?“

„We were. We went to Italy but then stopped in London for a couple of days to see some show Brock wanted to see and go shopping,“ Jose explained.

„Also it was nice being back in the lounge at Heathrow where we first reconnected when we ran into each other.“

„Mmmmh, got on the same chairs and napped.“ Jose leans into Brock’s side and kisses him.

„You napped and I looked after our hand luggage. Just like the last time,“ Brock points out, but pecks Jose’s lips again.

„You boys had a nice trip?“

„The best,“ Jose confirms. „Capri is magical and the food in Italy….Ma, you have to go there. I think we both gained ten pounds each, but we couldn’t stop eating. They’ll have to re-work all of my costumes because I won’t fit in them anymore.“

„We just have to start working out again. And with the work here, we have enough to do,“ Brock points out.

„Work… here… us? You don’t really think you or me will swing a hammer here? We’ll damage whatever they’ve built.“

„Doesn’t look like they’ve built too much,“ Brock comments as he looks around.

„Have you already seen the bathroom?“ Jose’s mom asks.

„No, we just walked in.“

„And the pool company is done and you have a new patio now.“

„Let’s look around. Come on, boo,“ Jose begs and gets back up. He stretches in all direction and grabs Brock’s hand when he follows him. They start at the guest room, which looks unchanged. The carpet is out, there’s the wooden floor still in packages stacked in a corner of the room and the walls are still stripped. The small guest bathroom however is done.

They check their own bathroom next and find it also completely finished, rain shower, large tub and all.

„Look, papi, from now on you can shower alone whenever you hurt your knee again,“ Brock points out, because the shower is floor level and a chair can easily be put in there.

„I like the black and white tiles. They were a really good choice,“ Jose nods and runs his hands over the double sinks. „And we can both get ready at the same time.“ His smile is wide and dreamy as he looks around the bathroom. Brock watches him take it in and can’t wait until the other rooms get done and he gets to see the wonder in Jose’s eyes again.

„I’m happy you like it,“ Brock pulls him again him and rests his cheek against Jose’s hair for a moment.

„You getting soft in your old days, boo boo. Or are you tired?“ Jose is not done teasing him yet.

„Mmh, tired. But still excited and soft from our trip. The days in Capri were magical,“ Brock sighs and closes his eyes for a moment. They’d spend their days around the gulfof Naples, saw Amalfi, Positano and Sorrento before hopping on a ferry and spending days on Ischia and finally Capri. They rented an old villa with a beautiful view of the sea. The white houses were lined with violet flowers everywhere and the scent of summer jasmine in the air. The fish, pizza, pastaand gelato had been as magical as the view. And there was no clubs, no noises no partying gays. Just nice restaurants, beautiful old towns, ports and churches. Brock had hardly ever felt as relaxed as he’d been in Italy. Not even Aruba had come close, because the expectation of their first vacation together and some of their unresolved issues had caused some troubles back then. This time they had only bickered about when to get up or where to go for dinner. They’d been at peace with their surroundings and with themselves. Just when he’d thought there was no way he could be more in love with Jose, it happened again and made his heart swell and flow over with feelings.

„They were magical. Love you, twinkle toes,“ Jose replies and kisses Brock softly. They get lost in the kiss, that gets deeper.

„Hey! There’s people here,“ Jose’s mother busts them after who knows how long of making out.

„So? This is our bathroom!“ Jose bristles.

„Get outta here now and talk to the contractionator, because he has questions. He doesn’t need to see you with your tongue down Brock’s throat!“

„Contractor, ma.“ Jose sighs and exchanges another look with Brock until they both obediently follow her out of the bathroom. Real life is calling.

***

**July**

Jose is feeling frustrated, because this discussion is not one he saw coming. Since when does his man have any interest in interior decorations? The guy who used to store his shoes in the bookshelves and still throws his clothes wherever he stands and goes. Even for the rented home Jose chose most of the decorations since he moved in as a cat sitter.

Yet, now that he’s online shopping for rugs, vases, pillows and picture frames, his man is suddenly all over it and doesn’t move an inch away from him, afraid he might miss something. When Jose wanted Brock’s input about the tiles in the kitchen, he couldn’t be bothered saying he never really uses the kitchen anyway – even though it isn’t true. And now he wants to discuss pillow cases? Is he fucking serious?

„Boo! Why don’t you go and walk Riley or something?“ He finally snaps and turns the laptop screen so Brock can’t see it anymore.

„Because you’re lost in your fake fur world and I don’t want it all over the house! Especially not in pink and baby blue!“

„Are you gonna go all manly on me now? What do you want? A singing fish on the mantle? Over my dead body!“

„A singing fish?“ Brock giggles.

„Yeah, or some dead deer head or some shit?“

„Well, I hope that the deer is dead when they put its head on a wall.“

„Brock!“ Jose is done playing. He doesn’t have time for this shit. They will move into the new house in a month and he needs to have everything delivered by then. He can’t stand the thought of living between boxes any longer. Half of their current house is already packed up, while the new one still looks like a construction site. He longs for comfort and homeyness.

„Ok, listen,“ Brock starts, „You can do whatever in the bedroom, the bathrooms and in the kitchen, if you insist. But I want no fake fur rugs on the living room floor or the hallway.“

„But they’re…“ Jose tries to get a word in, but Brock isn’t done yet.

„The cats and Riley are usually in the living room with us, the patio door leads to the living room and we walk back and forth through the living room all day. Fake fur is a pain to clean and mixed with the car hair it’ll be a mess.“

„Maybe if you took off your shoes for once before walking through the living room, we could put some dope rugs in it and not the cheap Ikea stuff we have now,“ Jose shoots back.

„And we have a grey blue couch.Why do we need pink pillows?“

„Because they’ll go fucking awesome with the picture frames and the candle holders for the mantle. It’s about accents. You a drag queen you should know that stuff!“

„No pink fake fur pillows!“

„Imma remind you of this moment next time you running around in some ballerina leotard.“

„That’s not made out of pink fake fur.“

Jose pouts, his plans destroyed by his man, even though the pins he found on Pinterest looked dope.

„Imma give you boring ass pillows and rugs in the living room, but then I want the crystal mirror for the bedroomand the chandelier over the dining table.“

Brock groans loudly and slumps back against the couch. „That your last word?“

„That’s me compromising. Last offer, last call. You decline and I’m gonna let you decorate the living room with my ma.“

„Fine. But then we’re taking the darker dining room table and the wooden chairs. Your diner chairs don’t fit with a chandelier.“

Jose thinks about it and pictures it in his head. He likes what he sees and nods. „Deal. Shake to seal it,“ Jose holds out his hand.

„Since when are we shaking hands to seal a deal?“ Brock wonders and stares at Jose’s hand.

„Since you become a nagging bitch who messes with my decorations,“ Jose replies and gets whacked with a pillow a moment later.

„Hey! You wanna fight toes? You wanna fight?“ Jose has tackled him to the floor a moment later and grabs his curls with both hands to hold him in place. „And now? Still got words and hands?“

„No. Can I have a kiss?“ Brock has the audacity to ask.

„Do I get fake fur rugs in the bedroom?“

„If they’re good for your knees.“

„My knees? Why would they need to be…“ Jose stops when he understand what Brock means. „You motherfucker only worry about your dick.“

„No, I worry about your knees when you suck my dick.“

„Which won’t happen any time soon again, asshole,“ Jose whispers against Brock’s lips and then pulls away.

„Hey, papi, that’s not fair. Come on!“

„That a yes to the rugs in the bedroom?“

„Fine,“ Brock sighs.

„You’ll thank me, dumbass. You’ll be on your knees, too and you old as dirt.“ This time Brock wraps his arms around Jose’s neck when he pulls him close for a kiss so he can’t escape, not that he’s really trying.

***

**August**

„Miss Thing?“ Jose calls as he unlocks the door to their new house. He knows his man has been over since this morning, insisting that he wanted to set up some shelves in their drag rooms. A task, Jose would have preferred to be done by professionals, because his ballerina was no handyman.

„Outside,“ Brock answers and Jose slowly makes his way inside. He doesn’t even get past the hallway before he has to pick up a large plastic wrapper that’s thrown on their new stone tiles, leaving tiny balls of styrofoam all over. Jose takes off his socks, so the small balls won’t stick to them and tiptoes into the small room on the right where he knows the vacuum should be. He throws the plastic sheet into the trash and vacuums the hallway until all the styrofoam is gone, as well as the sand that seems to come from wherever.

When he unplugs the vacuum he catches a glimpse into their open bedroom and groans loudly. The sand is in there as well, even spread all over the rugs he has already placed on the dark wooden floor. He shakes the fake fur rugs out and vacuums the bedroom, following the sand trace to the walk in closet. In there he finds Brock’s shoes, who look like he’s hiked through the wetlands and let the mud dry before walking into their new house.

Knowing his man, he checks the bathroom and, of course, finds clothes by the sink, more sand on the floor and in the sink, that he, apparently just couldn’t rinse down the drain.

„Imma kill this motherfucking messy ho,“ Jose mutters, now more than a little bit annoyed. Tomorrow their furniture and boxes will arrive and what is Brock thinking? They’re just gonna put them on top of his damn mess everywhere?

The trail of destruction continues from their bedroom to the guest bedroom to their office and the drag room and then back into the living room and open kitchen in form of tools lying around, empty packaging of screws and shelves, open tubes of glue that has dripped onto the new tiles, empty take out containers and spilled soda – and the final straw is anther pile of dirty clothes by the patio door.

Jose is already fuming when he reaches the patio door, but he loses it when he finds his man happily floating in their pool, eyes closed, enjoying the sunshine in the L.A. heat – most likely without sunscreen.

„Brock!“ He barks when he steps outside. „What the fuck do you think you doing, you sloppy bitch! The whole house looks like a tsunami went through it. You couldn’t even take off your stupid, ugly, dirty shoes when walking inside? We paid through our noses for the wooden floors and you leave sand all over it?“ Brock stays in the pool, but is no longer floating in the water. Instead he’s leaning with his arms against the edge, watching Jose as he chews him out. „Your ho ass is floating naked in the damn pool and your sweaty, stinking clothes are lying in front of the patio door?“

„Jo…“ Brock tries to placate him, but can’t even finish his name, before Jose continues his rant.

„You said you’d finish stuff here so we can move in tomorrow. And after shooting all day in full dragin the motherfucking heat that nearly burned the wig into my skull, I come here and find you splashing in pool, tanning your naked ass while the house looks like the tourbus after another night of partying with all the drag race hos. I hope you burn your dick real good, all roasted and toasted!“

„Papi – ,“ Brock tries again.

„No, you don’t get to call me that right now. I’m fucking mad at your messy ass. Couldn’t even wipe the spilled soda off the new kitchen counters! What are you thinking? Tomorrow we just gonna put the furniture on top of your mess so one can’t see it anymore? News flash: You not real Cinderella and no mice and other critters will clean your mess at night while you sleeping!“

„You done?“

„Am I…. I’m not fucking done you motherfucking…“ Jose looks like he’s going to combust any second.

„Jose stop!“ Brock calls out loud and pushes himself up and out of the pool, naked as he is. Jose can’t help it, he has to check if his dick is really burned. To Jose’s biggest disappointment, or biggest relief – who knows–, Brock’s dick looks fine, maybe a bit smaller than normal and wrinkled because of the cold water in the pool.

„Don’t tell me to…“ Brock places a hand over Jose’s mouth and gives him a stern look.

„Shut up now and listen,“ he tells him and Jose thinks a second about biting him, but knows that would be pushing it a bit too far. So he just huffs and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

„I put up all the shelves in the drag room, so we can start sorting wigs and costumes as soon as possible, because weneed them next week. Then I put the covers on the A/C vents because the workers apparently forgot them. They also forgot the towel racks in the bathroom, so I fixed that, too. The cleaning lady is coming later tonight to take care of the mess and there’s food for you in the fridge, if you’re hungry. You only have to heat it up, so I went back home and brought the microwave over, since oven and microwave will be delivered tomorrow, together with the stove. Then I came out here and set up the jacuzzi, so we can relax in it for a bit, because I know you’ve had a hard day. I’ve only been in the pool for about five minutes to cool off. So, sorry, my dick’s fine, no roasting or toasting.“ Brock takes his hand off Jose’s mouth when he is done talking.

Jose turns around and finds their new Jacuzzi set up on the spot they decided upon on the patio. The wooden frame is also put up around it and the stairs are there as well. Brock must have been slaving away for at least an hour or two to set it up.

Now he’s feeling bad for yelling at his man. „I’m sorry, I…“ Jose mutters, but is stopped by Brock’s cold lips on his.

„It’s ok,“ Brock tells him.

„You set this up for me and fix all this shit and I cuss you out like an asshole.“

„You wouldn’t be you, if you didn’t lose your shit for no reason from time to time,“ Brock chuckles and pecks his lips again. „But you can always make it up to me.“

„You need some warming up, huh?“ Jose smirks and looks to Brock’s crotch.

„Kinda… we could also christen the Jacuzzi.“ Brock steps closer so his naked, wet body is pressed up against Jose and he starts unbuttoning Jose’s shirt.

„How long do we have until Esther gets here?“ Jose worries about their cleaning lady walking in on them.

„At least another two hours.“ Jose’s shirt hits the floor and Brock focusses on his jeans next, while Jose is gliding his warm hands over Brock’s chest and then slowly downwards.

„Two hours? We might have to hurry up then,“ Jose muses and wraps his hand around Brock’s cock, stroking slowly up and down until he can feel it slowly get bigger.

„Hurry? When’s the last time we did it for two hours?“ Brock laughs out loud.

„Italy. First night. We didn’t sleep at all,“ Jose remembers.

„But that was…“ This time Brock is stopped by Jose’s mouth claiming his and a hand that speeds up at the same time.

Later, when they get ready for bed in the evening, they find that it’s not their dicks being sunburned, but their shoulders and noses.

***

**September**

„Hey Jasper,“ Jose greets as they open the front door, already knowing who is in front of it. They agreed that he would get here after most of their guests were already there, celebrating out in the patio, where food and drinks were set up.

„Hey Jasper, come in,“ Brock echoes with a wide smile and steps to the side, so Jasper can step into their house with his camera.

„This is gonna be the world exclusive, world of wonder, Branjie house tour with yours truly Miss Brooke Lynn Hytes and Miss Vannessa Vanjie Mateo,“ Jose continues.

„Come on, we’ll show you around,“ Brock says and waves at Jasper to follow them.

They start at the back of the house with their drag room. In the end, they decided it made no sense to have two, so they just tore down the wall in between the two small rooms and made it one big room, with a large closet for their costumes.

Next is the guest bedroom and bathroom that scream Jose when it comes to the decorations. There’s crystal decorated mirrors on the wall, white shiny surfaces, cozy textures and pastel colors everywhere.

„Obviously, this room was decorated by Jose,“ Brock feels the need to point out and just stops himself from rolling his eyes. It looks great, he knows, it’s just not his style.

„And obviously, you gonna sleep in here tonight if you don’t stop bitching,“ Jose threatens.

Now Brock actually rolls his eyes , picks up Jose and playfully throws him onto the large bed. „You sleep in here,“ he laughs when Jose’s loud screech and laughter echo through the room.

With a lot of pride they show off their beautiful bedroom, that also opens to the patio and is cozy but not as girly as they guest bedroom. The grey duvet and large wooden bedframe make sure of it. Jose and Brock both avoid any dirty comments, because it just doesn’t feel right in here, too personal, and instead Jasper zooms in on the pictures of the two are them that are framed on the nightstand and on the walls. There’s one of their vacation in Aruba, where they are sailing off into the sunset, one from their time shortly after drag race when they first started dating and the most recent one was taken on Capri, showing the glistening sea behind them as they pose in front of the violet flowers on the terrace of their rented villa.

„There’s a picture missing here,“ Jasper points out the blank spot next to the Capri picture.

„We not done yet, are we?“ Jose smirks and exchanges a look with Brock, who simply laughs.

Brock gives a long speech about the amazing things that are rain showers in their bathroom, before they peek into their office, that is a lot more organized than Jasper would have given them credit for.

„What? You think we want to be two of the non tax paying drag hos? No, thank you, mama“ Jose snorts and closes the door again. They finally reach the kitchen/living room area, where Jasper gets to meet the cats and Riley and Brock has to demonstrate the magic that is an automated fireplace, even though it’s still incredibly warm outside.

The garden and patio are packed with people. There’s Brock’s family, Jose’s family, drag friends and non-drag friends all mingling and drinking.

„Is that mama Vanjie over there?“ Jasper asks and zooms in on Jose’s mother. He’ s been given very clear instructions beforehand who he is allowed to film and who he isn’t allowed to show in any way. Besides Jose’s mom the rest of his family is completely off limits, especially his grandmother, brothers and nieces who have flown in from Florida. Same goes for most of Brock’s family, even though they are not as shy or strict, because most of them have shown up on Brock’s social media one time or another.

„Yes, she’s talking to Miss Laurie, our therapist. Now listen, if any of you chickaheads out there need some dope-ass therapist in L.A. we can highly recommend Miss Laurie,“ Jose explains and advertises at the same time. „Hey, Miss Laurie,“ he yells then. „We just introduced you to the world and recommended you. Don’t forget to send the check with the interests our way when they all call for appointments,“ Jose lets her know.

„Jose,“ the therapist shakes her head and gives him a disapproving look.

„Aren’t you glad you let him harass you into coming here?“ Brock teases the both of them.

„Very,“ comes the sarcastic reply of their therapist, that makes them both laugh.

„Aw, look, Nina, Silky and A’keria are chatting up Margaret and Magnus,“ Brock points out to Jose. The group is in stitches about something and Brock and Jose suspect that they are exchanging stories about them.

„Them bitches better behave and not scare our senior citizen friends,“ Jose replies.

„We met them on our vacation in Aruba and then saw them again when we toured in Sweden. We kept in contact,“ Brock explains for the camera who they are.

„Magnus’s the one who filmed the dirty dancing video on the beach that broke the Branjie fan whores,“ Jose remembers and chuckles.

„They are gonna stay with us for a week and we’ll show them around L.A. and maybe San Fransisco,“ Brock adds.

„And see that blonde hunk over there?“ Jose asks Jasper, who zooms in once more. „That’s Matt, my ex. Just cause people think I didn’t manage to get myself a man beside this one here doesn’t mean it’s true,“ Jose points to Brock with a cocky expression.

„You just had to point that out,“ Brock groans, but wraps one arm around Jose’s waist.

„What? You invited him.“

„He’s actually a nice guy,“ Brock admits and turns to the camera. „I ran into him a couple of months ago when we were renovating this place and found out he’s living in the area. We started talking and now we sometimes hang out with him and his boyfriend. They’re nice.“

„I don’t date no assholes,“ Jose nods.

„You sure?“ Brock laughs out loud, remembering some stories about some other exes of his.

„Maybe not,“ Jose gives him a pointed look with pursed lips and raised eyebrows. Brock guffaws and pecks his lips, which softens Jose’s features into a relaxed and happy smile.

„Sun’s setting. Wanna start the next phase of the party?“ Brock asks Jose and winks at the camera.

„You gonna start some party games?“ Jasper asks.

„Not exactly,“ Brock shakes his head. The two of them make their way through the crows of people, shaking hands, sharing hugs and quick chats with several people until they reach the large buffet. Brock takes a glass of champagne and hands it to Jose, before he takes one for himself and gently taps a spoon against it, shutting up the people around them.

„I’m not gonna hold a long speech here, don’t worry,“ he starts.

„Thank god!“ comes Bianca’s sarcastic reply from somewhere in the garden and makes them all laugh.

„We just wanted to say thank you for coming to all of you, we really appreciate it that you’re here to celebrate with us. We’ve come a long way and you all were there in some way with us. And what a hike it’s been,“ Brock chuckles.

„Ain’t that the truth,“ Jose remarks dryly, evoking another round of laughter.

„We’re finally here in our own home and we want to celebrate with you. There’s dessert and ice cream being set up in the kitchen as I speak, so the buffet is officially open,“ Brock announces and nods to Jose, who pulls on a lose string that unwraps a banner, that before looked like a cloudy cloth decoration above the buffet.

For a moment there’s silence.

„Holy shit!“ Adore is the first to snap out of it after he read the banner. Jasper walks around the people so the camera can catch what the banner is saying.

‚Welcome to the (after)wedding party of Mr.& Mr.’

„Is this for real?“ Heidi shrieks.

„Yup, tied the knot back in May Carrie and Mr. Big style. With only our mamas, Steve and Silky there and then went on our honeymoon to Italy.“ Jose smiles proudly and moves closer to Brock, who is hugging him to his side, one arm still wrapped tightly around his waist. Then Jose digs into his jeans pocket with one hand and pulls out two wide golden wedding bands. Brock takes his off Jose’s palm and puts it back on and Jose does the same.

„You’re really shackled to each other now,“ Bianca comments the less than subtle rings as he makes his way to the couple and is the first of many to congratulate them with a heartfelt hug.

Jasper films as one after the other congratulates them, everyone surprised and incredibly happy for them. Nearly no one even knew of their engagement. Then it becomes quieter again, as they all start eating, drinking and chatting once more and the excitement slowly dies down.

„We gonna put the rest of the pictures back up now, hubby?“ Brock asks Jose as Jasper once again focusses the camera on them.

„Later, boo. Now we celebrate and get drunk,“ Jose kisses his husband. Then he covers the camera-lens with his hand; the rest is private.

***

**October**

Jose has been nearly falling asleep several times, but each time Brock wakes him up with his tossing and turning next to him in bed. It’s close to three o’clock in the morning and even though they came home only an hour ago, they both need to get up early for some meetings.

„Boo, what are you doing? You ok?“ He finally asks him and turns around so he faces him.

„Mmh, just thinking.“

„What are you thinking about?“

„Stuff.“

Jose takes a deep breath and rolls his eyes in the dark before he places his head on Brock’s chest and hugs him around the middle. „Spill it. I’m tired, toes. What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?“

„I want a baby,“ Brock finally says into the dark and Jose keeps rubbing his hands up and down his chest.

„Ok,“ Jose agrees after a while and then closes his eyes so he can finally get some sleep.

„Ok?“ Brock sounds a bit disbelieving.

„Sure,“ Jose opens his eyes again and places a kiss on Brock’s chest. „We’ll call the shelters tomorrow and go see if they have a new baby for us.“ Jose closes his eyes once more, but when Brock remains silent, Jose starts wondering. „Or are you talking about a real human baby?“

Brock’s snort is loud in the otherwise silent room. „Are you crazy? I haven’t completely lost my mind. I want another furry baby.“

„Good. Just wanted to make sure.“ Jose’s eyes close when Brock runs his hands through his hair.

„You really ok with it?“

„Kinda saw it coming. You showed me a lot of cute cat baby pics on your phone the last couple of days.“

„I can’t help it. There’s one here at the shelter that would be just perfect. The one with the blue eyes? You remember?“

„Mmmh. You know that the name’s already decided on, right?“

„Really? What’s the name?“ Brock continues his caresses and Jose feels like a cat himself. If he could purr, he would.

„Thackery Binx. It’s nearly Halloween.“

Jose feels Brock’s chuckles against his cheek. „Fine.“

„Good. Now go to sleep,“ Jose mumbles.

„Love you, hubby.“ There’s a smile audible in Brock’s voice.

„Love you too, my betrothed“ Jose replies.

„Where did you learn that word?“

„Asked Silky for something better than ‚hubby‘,“ Jose admits.

„Silky, of course,“ Brock tiredly chuckles.

„ I told ya I’d find a better word than your boring ass ‚hubby‘. Now sleep.“ And that’s what they do.

**The end.**

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you like this. I don't know if this is the end of the journey for this series or not, but just in case I think it'd be a good ending.


End file.
